Ancestors, Forefathers, Founders, Puritans

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“It was this great struggle [between church and state] that peopled America. It was not religion alone… but it was a love of universal liberty… formed by a sensible people, — I mean the Puritans… This people had been so vexed and tortured by the powers of those days, for no other crime than their knowledge and their freedom of inquiry and examination… that they at last resolved to fly to the wilderness for refuge…

It may be thought polite and fashionable by many modern fine gentlemen, perhaps, to deride the characters of these persons… But such ridicule is… grossly injurious and false. Religious to some degree of enthusiasm it may be admitted they were; but this can be no peculiar derogation [dishonor] from their character…Whatever imperfections may be justly ascribed to them… their policy was founded in wise, humane, and benevolent principles… Tyranny in every form, shape, and appearance was their disdain and abhorrence; no fear of punishment, nor even of death itself in exquisite tortures, had been sufficient to conquer that steady, manly, pertinacious spirit with which they had opposed the tyrants of those days in church and state…”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“… [The Puritan’s] greatest concern seems to have been to establish a government of the church more consistent with the Scriptures, and a government of the state more agreeable to the dignity of human nature, than any they had seen in Europe… They knew that government was a plain, simple, intelligible thing, founded in nature and reason, and quite comprehensible by common sense.”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“[The Puritans] were convinced, by their knowledge of human nature, derived from history and their own experience, that nothing could preserve their posterity from the encroachments of… tyranny… but knowledge diffused generally through the whole body of the people. Their civil and religious principles, therefore, conspired to prompt them to use every measure and take every precaution in their power to propagate and perpetuate knowledge. For this purpose they laid very early the foundations of colleges… and it is remarkable that they have left among their posterity so universal an affection and veneration for those seminaries… that the meanest [stingy/uncharitable] of the people contribute cheerfully to the support and maintenance of them every year…

But the wisdom and benevolence of our fathers rested not here. They made an early provision by law, that every town consisting of so many families, should be always furnished with a grammar school…So that the education of all ranks of people was made the care and expense of the public, in a manner that I believe has been unknown to any other people ancient or modern.”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“The consequences of these establishments [schools] we see and feel every day. A native of America who cannot read and write is as rare… as a comet or an earthquake.… all candid foreigners who have passed through this country, and conversed freely with all sorts of people here, will allow, that they have never seen so much knowledge and civility among the common people in any part of the world. It is true, there has been [some] among us… not of the descendants of the first settlers of this country… who affect to censure this provision for the education of our youth as a needless expense… Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. And liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right, from the frame of their nature, to knowledge, as their great Creator, who does nothing in vain, has given them understandings, and a desire to know…

And the preservation of the means of knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance to the public than all the property of all the rich…”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“... [The Spirit of Liberty], however, without knowledge, would be little better than a brutal rage. Let us tenderly and kindly cherish, therefore, the means of knowledge. Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write. Let every order and degree among the people rouse their attention and animate their resolution. Let them all become attentive to the grounds and principles of government…Let us study the law of nature [and] read the histories of ancient ages…Let us read and recollect and impress upon our souls the views and ends of our own more immediate forefathers…Let us examine into the nature of that power, and the cruelty of that oppression, which drove them from their homes…Recollect the civil and religious principles… which constantly supported and carried them through all hardships with patience and resignation.Let us recollect it was liberty, the hope of liberty for themselves and us and ours, which conquered all discouragements, dangers, and trials…”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“… inform the world of the mighty struggles and numberless sacrifices made by our ancestors in defense of freedom.”John Adams, A Dissertation on The Canon and Feudal Law, 1765

“Our fathers had so severely felt the effects of tyranny and the weight of the bishop's yoke, that they underwent the greatest difficulties and toils to secure to themselves and transmit to their posterity those invaluable blessings [Liberties]; and we, their posterity, are this day reaping the fruits of their toils…

But neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.We must not conclude merely upon a man’s haranguing upon liberty, and using the charming sound, that he is fit to be trusted with the liberties of his country. It is not infrequent to hear men declaim loudly upon liberty, who, if we may judge by the whole tenor of their actions, mean nothing else by it but their own liberty, — to oppress without control or the restraint of laws all who are poorer or weaker than themselves…

The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy this gift of Heaven [Liberty], let us become a virtuous people: then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While, on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.” Samuel Adams, Essay Published in the Advertiser, 1749

“… when we look back upon the many dangers from which our country hath, even from its first settlement, been delivered, and the policy and power of those, who have to this day sought its ruin, we are sensibly struck with an admiration of Divine goodness, and would religiously regard the arm which has so often shielded us.”Samuel Adams, Address of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts to the Governor, June 3, 1766

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors.They purchased them for us with toil, and danger, and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence.It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.”Samuel Adams, Writing as “Candidus”, Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771

“Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity, and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us…Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times more than ever calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.

Let us remember that if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom!It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers in the event!”Samuel Adams, Writing as “Candidus”, Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771

“… It requires but a small portion of the gift of discernment for anyone to foresee, that providence will erect a mighty empire in America; and our posterity will have it recorded in history, that their fathers migrated from an island in a distant part of the world, the inhabitants of which had long been revered for wisdom and valor.They grew rich and powerful; these emigrants increased in numbers and strength.But they were at last absorbed in luxury and dissipation; and to support themselves in their vanity and extravagance they coveted and seized the honest earnings of those industrious emigrants.This laid a foundation of distrust, animosity and hatred, till the emigrants, feeling their own vigor and independence, dissolved every former band of connection between them, and the islanders sunk into obscurity and contempt.” Samuel Adams, Letter to Arthur Lee, April 4, 1774

“We live in an important Period, and have a post to maintain, to desert which would be an unpardonable Crime, and would entail upon us the Curses of posterity.The infamous Tools of Power are holding up the picture of Want and Misery; but in vain do they think to intimidate us; the Virtue of our Ancestors inspires us- they were contented with Clams and Mussels.For my own part, I have been wont to converse with poverty; and however disagreeable a Companion she may be thought to be by the affluent and luxurious who never were acquainted with her, I can live happily with her the remainder of my days, if I can thereby contribute to the Redemption of my Country.”Samuel Adams, Letter to William Checkley, June 1, 1774

“… [The People] have been, & are still exercising themselves in military Discipline and providing the necessary Means of Defense.I am well informed that in every Part of the Province there are selected Men, called Minute Men– that they are well disciplined & well provided – and that upon a very short Notice they will be able to assemble a formidable Army.They are resolved however not to be the Aggressors in an open Quarrel with the Troops; but animated with an unquenchable Love of Liberty they will support their righteous Claim to it, to the utmost Extremity.

… The People are recollecting the Achievements of their Ancestors and whenever it shall be necessary for them to draw their Swords in the Defense of their Liberties, they will show themselves to be worthy of such Ancestors.”Samuel Adams, Letter to Arthur Lee, Jan 29, 1775

“Our Ancestors in the most early Times laid an excellent Foundation for the security of Liberty by setting up in a few years after their Arrival a public Seminary of Learning; and by their Laws they obliged every Town consisting of a certain Number of Families to keep and maintain a Grammar School…would not the leading Gentlemen do eminent Service to the Public, by impressing upon the Minds of the People, the Necessity & Importance of encouraging that System of Education, which in my opinion is so well calculated to diffuse among the Individuals of the Community the Principles of Morality, so essentially necessary to the Preservation of public Liberty.”Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

“Since private & public Vices, though not always apparently, are in Reality so nearly connected, of how much Importance, how necessary is it, that the utmost Pains be taken by the Public to have the Principles of Virtue early inculcated on the Minds even of Children, and the moral Sense universally kept alive, and that the wise Institutions of our Ancestors for those great Purposes be encouraged by the Government for no People will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can they easily be subdued, where Knowledge is diffused and Virtue preserved.On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant & debauched in their manners, they will sink under their own Weight, without the Aid of foreign Invaders.”Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775

“We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three millions of souls united in one common cause…There are instances of, I would say, an almost astonishing Providence in our favor; our success has staggered our enemies, and almost given faith to the infidels; so that we may truly say it is not our own arm which has saved us.

… [If] an accommodation takes place between England and America on any other terms than as independent states, I shall date the ruin of this country…The warm sunshine of influence would melt down the virtue which the violence of the storm rendered more firm and unyielding.In a state of tranquility, wealth and luxury, our descendants would forget the arts of war and the noble activity and zeal which made their ancestors invincible. Every art of corruption would be employed to loosen the bond of union which renders our resistance formidable. When the spirit of liberty which now animates our hearts and gives success to our arms is extinct, our numbers will accelerate our ruin, and render us easier victims to tyranny.”Samuel Adams, An Oration Delivered at the State House, August 1, 1776

“If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslaved.This will be their great Security.Virtue & Knowledge will forever be an even Balance for Powers & Riches.I hope our Countrymen will never depart from the Principles & Maxims [truths] which have been handed down to us from our wise forefathers.This greatly depends upon the Example of Men of Character & Influence of the present Day.”Samuel Adams, Letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779

“As to the doctrine of slavery and the right of Christians to hold Africans in perpetual servitude, and sell and treat them as we do our horses and cattle, that (it is true) has been heretofore countenanced by the Province Laws formerly, but nowhere is it expressly enacted or established. It has been a usage -- a usage which took its origin from the practice of some of the European nations, and the regulations of British government respecting the then Colonies, for the benefit of trade and wealth.

But whatever sentiments have formerly prevailed in this particular or slid in upon us by the example of others, a different idea has taken place with the people of America, more favorable to the natural rights of mankind, and to that natural, innate desire of Liberty, with which Heaven (without regard to color, complexion, or shape of noses, features) has inspired all the human race. And upon this ground our [Massachusetts] Constitution of Government, by which the people of this Commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves, sets out with declaring that all men are born free and equal -- and that every subject is entitled to liberty, and to have it guarded by the laws, as well as life and property -- and in short is totally repugnant to the idea of being born slaves. This being the case, I think the idea of slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution; and there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational creature, unless his liberty is forfeited by some criminal conduct or given up by personal consent or contract.”Justice William Cushing, Charge to the Jury in Commonwealth v. Jennison, April 1783

“Has it not been the practice of all other nations to hold their lands as their personal estate in absolute dominion? Are we not the better for what we have hitherto abolished of the feudal system? Has not every restitution of the ancient Saxon laws had happy effects? Is it not better now that we return at once into that happy system of our ancestors, the wisest and most perfect ever yet devised by the wit of man, as it stood before the 8th century?”Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edmund Pendleton, August 13, 1776

“These [founding] principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from [The Founding Principles]… let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.”Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801

“Every man, therefore, will find the history of his own country the most interesting and the most instructive…

Our struggle, to defend and secure the rights of our fathers, tore away that veil which had long concealed the mysteries of government.Here, on this far western coast of the broad Atlantic Ocean; here, by the feeble hand of infant unconnected colonies, was raised a beacon to rouse and to alarm a slumbering world.It awoke, and was convulsed.What tremendous scenes it has exhibited!

The history of our day is, indeed, a school for princes; and, therefore, the proper school for American citizens.Exercising, by their delegates, the sovereign power, it is meet [fitting] they know how to assert and how to preserve their freedom.”Gouverneur Morris, An Inaugural Discourse Delivered Before the New York Historical Society, September 4, 1816

“At a time when our lordly Masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that something should be done to avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived from our Ancestors; but the manner of doing it to answer the purpose effectually is the point in question.

That no man should scruple or hesitate a moment to use arms in defense of so valuable a blessing [as liberty], on which all the good and evil of life depends, is clearly my opinion; yet arms, I would beg leave to add, should be the last resource; the dernier [French, for last] resort”George Washington, Letter to George Mason, April 5, 1769

“But every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country; he should lisp the praise of liberty, and of those illustrious heroes and statesmen, who have wrought a revolution in her favor.

A selection of essays, respecting the settlement and geography of America; the history of the late revolution and of the most remarkable characters and events that distinguished it, and a compendium of the principles of the federal and provincial governments, should be the principal school book in the United States. These are interesting objects to every man; they call home the minds of youth and fix them upon the interests of their own country, and they assist in forming attachments to it, as well as in enlarging the understanding.”Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788

“Resolved, That we will by all lawful ways and means which Divine Providence hath put into our hands, defend ourselves in the full enjoyment of, and preserve inviolate to posterity, those inestimable privileges [rights] of all free-born British subjects, of being taxed by none but representatives of their own choosing, and of being tried only by a jury of their own peers; for if we quietly submit to the execution of the said Stamp Act, all our claims to civil liberty will be lost, and we and our posterity become absolute slaves.

Resolved, That we will, on any future occasion, sacrifice our lives and fortunes, in concurrence with the other Sons of Liberty in American provinces, to defend and preserve those invaluable blessings transmitted by our ancestors.”Sons ofLiberty, Norfolk, VA, March 31,1766

“… [Great Britain] persecuted, scourged, and exiled our fugitive parents from their native shores, [and] now pursues us, their guiltless children, with unrelenting severity.It is an indispensable duty which we owe to God, our country, ourselves and posterity, by all lawful ways and means in our power to maintain, defend and preserve those civil and religious rights and liberties, for which many of our fathers fought, bled and died, and to hand them down entire to future generations.”Journals of Congress, Suffolk Resolves, September 17, 1774

“… [Resistance to tyranny] becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual.

… [And we] urge you to every preparation for your necessary defense; for, unless you exhibit to your enemies such a firmness as shall convince them that you are worthy of that freedom your ancestors fled here to enjoy, you have nothing to expect but the vilest and most abject slavery.

… We trust you will continue steadfast, and… with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which Heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us.”Second Provincial Congress, Address to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay, The Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, February 9, 1775

“… a Reverence for our great Creator, Principles of Humanity, and the Dictates of Common Sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the Subject, that Government was instituted to promote the Welfare of Mankind, and ought to be administered for the Attainment of that End…

Our Forefathers, Inhabitants of the Island of Great-Britain, left their Native Land, to seek on these Shores a Residence for civil and religious Freedom. At the Expense of their Blood, at the Hazard of their Fortunes, without the least Charge to the Country from which they removed, by unceasing Labor, and an unconquerable Spirit, they effected Settlements in the distant and inhospitable Wilds of America…”Journals of Congress, Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, July 6, 1775

“In New England the education and the liberties of the communities were engendered by the moral and religious principles of their founders…

In New England, every citizen receives the elementary notions of human knowledge; he is moreover taught the doctrines and the evidences of his religion, the history of his country, and the leading features of its Constitution. In the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, it is extremely rare to find a man imperfectly acquainted with all these things, and a person wholly ignorant of them is a sort of phenomenon.”Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy In America, 1831